Weston-Super-Mare tower block plan sparks complaints

Planners are being urged to stop a huge tower block being built on the site of a former hotel in Weston-Super-Mare.

North Somerset Council is being urged to limit the height of any development on the Royal Pier hotel site after concerns it will "ruin the seafront".

A councillor asked them to allow the "appropriate level of development... without destroying the conservation area behind it."

A petition directed at the council has been signed by more than 1,000 people.

The Local Democracy Reporting Services (LDRS) said CNM Estates, which owns the site, had drawn up new plans to include an eight-storey apartment building with 95 homes and serviced flats with facilities.

Councillor Mark Canniford said: "This area is an essential part of the Greater Weston place-making strategy and we must take great care in how we develop [it].

"This [petition] indicates the shock and concern at the current proposals."

Birnbeck Conservation Group said the CNM Estate's plans for an "eight-storey wall of windows" risked seeing "one of Weston's primary beauty spots and attractions damaged and disfigured without any just or sufficient cause".

One supporter said the developer's plans were not regeneration but "exploitation and frankly an insult to Weston and the Birnbeck conservation area".

Another said the new block would be "aesthetic vandalism", while a third said a low-rise development would regenerate the area while preserving the heritage of the area.

CNM Estates is yet to submit its formal planning application.

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